Typically, garments such as shirts and sweaters are folded and stored in dresser drawers, or on closet shelves or hung on hangers in closets. These methods of storage are subject to several disadvantages, or the garments may remain unfolded, strewn about a room until being ironed or worn.
Unless a folding board is used, it is extremely difficult to have all the garments folded the same size making closets and drawers unsightly and an inefficient use of the space. The folded garments are generally bulky, resulting in a need for a significant amount of dresser drawer or closet shelving space to store a relatively small quantity of garments. Furthermore, folding clothes takes time and requires a dedicated space.
Also, when garments are folded for storage unwanted creases are usually formed in the folded garment.
An alternative to folding is to hang the garments on clothes hangers. When garments such as sweaters or t-shirts are hung on clothes hangers for storage the weight of the garment in combination with the relatively narrow configuration of typical hangers results in the formation of unwanted bulges in the shoulders of the garments. In an effort to overcome this problem, users often resort to special clothes hangers of increased width to reduce contact stress between the clothes and the hangers. This is usually ineffective since it results in hangers which require excessive space in closets and costs more.
Additional attempts to provide effective storage for clothing include the devices shown in the following U.S. patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,017,944 to Braley is directed to a garment support provided with a plurality of plates affixed to an upstanding post. A number of garments can be suspended from each of the plates. Spring straps are used to secure the garments to the plate. The spring straps bear on the garments in order to secure them on the device. This presents the potential to mark, tear or otherwise distort the garment.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0193455 to Russell et al. discusses a wall mounted furniture system provided with a plurality of shelves and a vertical column. The Russell et al. device provides thin flat shelves having sharp edges. This system has the drawback of tendency to stretch or distort garments placed thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 711,690 to Zimmer illustrates a display stand provided with a number of concave slotted tubes affixed to the display stand. A fibrous filling extends from holes in the tubes to secure items, such as combs to the tubes. The Zimmer device stores garments by hanging them on tubes which have the same disadvantages as conventional hangers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,591,996 to Wu shows a shelving system provided with a plurality of shelves attached to a vertical column. The Wu device provides thin, flat shelves which tend to stretch or distort garments stored thereon in the same disadvantageous manner as the Russell et al device.
Despite the developments in the prior art there remains a need for an adjustable storage system for clothing.